detroit :Detroit Development News

Eight local businesses have been named to the first ever cohort of Detroit Veterans in Residence, a business incubator for United States veterans. This is the first Detroit round for the national program, which is a partnership between Bunker Labs and the WeWork co-working space.

The entrepreneurs will receive access to the Campus Martius WeWork co-working space, which includes such amenities as high speed internet, business-class printers, conference rooms, and more. WeWork and Bunker Labs have also built a specially-designed lounge and meeting space for those enrolled in the program.

The first round of Veteran-owned businesses includes AGI Construction, a general contracting construction company; Dominant Approach Digital, a boutique digital marketing firm; GreenBeings, a provider of recycling services to commercial and industrial buildings; SeannLewis.com, an IT support and software development firm; The North Group, a company that provides safety, security, and intelligence services; Hero Homes, which teaches veterans how to generate income by becoming landlords; HorHaze Lemoné, a health-minded soft drink company; and Digitech Studios, a video and photography studio.

"Detroit presents a unique opportunity, one unlike any other community in the nation," says Thomas Typinski, chapter leader at Bunker Labs Detroit and owner of Dominant Approach Digital. "We're flying under many people's radars, even some Detroiters'. Veterans have an obligation to lead the way through this program by transitioning from active duty life to their next mission in civilian life: Entrepreneurship.

"Veterans have a unique skill set of leadership that many people don't possess. They have a responsibility to help rebuild the city of Detroit through their entrepreneurial dreams."

Any veteran or military spouse in the Detroit area is eligible for the Veterans in Residence program, organizers say. Click here to learn more about applying for the next round.

Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith.

Seven more properties have come into the possession of Avalon Village, this thanks to the Michigan Land Bank, which has deeded the seven properties to the sustainable eco-village in Highland Park.

In total, Avalon Village now owns a mix of 30 houses and parcels of land on its stretch of Avalon Street, between Woodward and Second avenues. The Michigan Land Bank has deeded 11 of those properties.

For Avalon Village CEO Shamayim "Mama Shu" Harris, the seven properties mean even more opportunity to improve the quality of life in her community. She's actively been doing so for about ten years now, inspired by the hit-and-run death of her two-year old son Jakobi Ra in 2007.

In that time, she's gone from simple acts like cleaning up vacant lots to now owning 30 properties. Harris built community gathering space Jakobi Ra Park, as well as the Goddess Marketplace for women entrepreneurs. She's received a lot of attention for her efforts and, in 2016, Harris received a gift from comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres: A pre-fabricated home to serve as the village headquarters.

On-going projects include the Homework House, which will serve as a safe place for area children to study and socialize.The Avalon Village Healing House, the Blue Moon Cafe, and the Avalon Village Community Greenhouse are also planned.

"Partners like the Michigan Land Bank help us continue to strengthen our community," Harris says in a statement. "These seven properties will help us take Avalon Village from blight to beauty faster and more efficiently than we would have been able to do on our own. We are building a sense of pride for the people who live here and are working hard to make this a better, safer place; one property at a time."

Over half of Highland Park's 7,000 parcels are owned by public entities, and they're now ready to offer them to organizations and businesses like Avalon Village. The city, Michigan Land Bank, and Wayne County Land Bank will soon issue a Request for Qualifications to determine and attract qualified developers for nearly 1,000 properties.

Potential developers must submit their qualifications by noon, Feb. 9.

Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith.

It started as a way to help Detroit's homeless population. And now, even Founder and CEO Veronika Scott is surprised by the ways that her non-profit organization the Empowerment Plan continues to grow.

Empowerment Plan has recently debuted a retail clothing line, Maxwell Detroit. It's also planning on moving into a larger facility in the West Village. But its mission to address the challenges of generational poverty through employment remains the same. It just has new tools in its belt to do so.

Scott started the Empowerment Plan in 2012. A student at College for Creative Studies, Scott designed the EMPWR Coat, a water-resistant jacket that transforms into a sleeping bag. She employs people recruited from local shelters, who manufacture the coats to be donated back to the homeless population.

What's surprised Scott has been consumers' interests in the coats. So, Scott and her team have designed both a men's and women's coat to go along with the original sleeping bag design. All three products are now for sale via the Empowerment Plan's new line of clothing, Maxwell Detroit.

"The revenue earned from sales goes back into Empowerment Plan," Scott says. "Maxwell is a tool to continue the mission-based work that we're doing."

Scott hires people from local shelters, and enrolls them in a two-year "stepping stone" employment program. During that time, Empowerment Plan prepares their employees for life after coat manufacturing. According to the organization, since beginning in 2012, all 45 of the Empowerment Plan employees have gone on to find permanent housing.

The organization has also grown to the point of needing a new facility. This January, Empowerment Plan will leave its longtime space in Corktown's Ponyride maker space and move into its own 21,000 sq. ft. building in the West Village.

Empowerment runs on-site GED training, financial literacy programs, and other workshops, and the new building will allow the organization to dedicate an entire classroom to the subjects.

Maxwell Detroit coats are available for purchase via their website, here. Scott provided a discount code, which is mw2017. Donations and sponsorships can be made at the Empowerment Plan website, here.

Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith.

Paralee Boyd, which specializes in providing haircare for women of color with thick and curly hair, sets itself apart from seemingly similar salons by eschewing the traditional appointment-based model and instead only offering its services on a walk-in basis.

And now the unique salon is opening in Detroit, in a high-profile location in Midtown on Woodward Avenue. It's the second location for the salon, and its first in Detroit. Paralee Boyd Salon first opened in Southfield in 2012.

Though newer, Dana White, the owner of Paralee Boyd, considers the Midtown location her flagship studio, and the point from which she'll launch her brand on a national level. White has big plans for Paralee Boyd, and she's prepared herself with a novel approach to haircare and a well-manicured attention to detail.

White says that while living in New York, she found salons that worked on a walk-ins-only approach, something different than what she was used to while growing up in Michigan. And they were cheaper, too. What appointments-based salons offered, however, was more business stability. So White sought to combine the best of both styles.

Before opening her salon in Southfield, White consulted with engineers from members of the Big 3 auto companies. She wanted to take the walk-ins-only process and streamline it, make it more efficient and stable.

White embraced the principles of lean manufacturing, eliminating waste while improving productivity, and it worked. In busy times, White says her Southfield salon services 600 to 700 women a month. She's planning on opening five to ten more salons in the metro Detroit area, and then more throughout the state. She's also exploring opportunities in 200 major markets nationwide.

"I specifically chose metro Detroit to launch my brand because I know what I'm doing is innovative and I wanted to come to the center of innovation," says White. "It's not lost on me that my lean manufacturing practices are the same as those of Henry Ford."

Celebrity Carwash in LaSalle Gardens. Louisiana Creole Gumbo in the Bagley neighborhood. Lopez Tire Repair Service in Springwells Village. All these businesses and 41 more have been announced recipients of the city of Detroit's first round of Motor City Re-Store grants.

In total, $330,000 has been awarded to the 44 businesses and another $519,000 has been earmarked for future construction projects. More than 30 neighborhoods are represented in the first ever round of grant recipients.

The Motor City Re-Store grants function as a way to lend a hand to business owners who already call Detroit home. While the city's Motor City Match program exists to encourage entrepreneurs to build in the city, the Re-Store grants aim to help those already here.

The grants are to be used toward the design and construction of upgrades to business facades, landscaping, and other exterior improvements. Matching construction grants are awarded at up to $25,000 per business and design grants are awarded at up to $10,000.

Royalty Dance Studio in the Morningside neighborhood was one such recipient, having been awarded $7,500 to make improvements to their building's exterior.

"Royalty is a real community resource for the neighborhood," says owner Howard Brown. "We are excited to be able to remove old signage and make other improvements that will show off Royalty and the surrounding area on East Warren as a great community."

According to officials from the Motor City Re-Store program, 70 percent of the grant-winning businesses are minority-owned, and 43 percent are women-owned.

While the application window for round two has already closed, the third round opened Dec. 1 and will close Jan. 1, 2018.

Click here to learn more about the Motor City Re-Store application process.

Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith.

A Gothic-Victorian mansion built in the 1880s has been steadily accumulating tenants since full-scale restoration work first started in 2014. Once a hollowed-out shell of its former self, the Midtown building, located at the intersection of Second Avenue and Alexandrine Street, is currently home to three residential units and the Detroit Clothing Circle clothing store. It once hosted the 2016 beer garden, Stadt Garten.

Located in a newly restored garden unit of the building, Sfumato Fragrances, the creator and purveyor of natural fragrances and scent experiences, celebrated the opening of its flagship retail location this past Black Friday. In addition to retail, the Sfumato space will also host Castalia, a craft cocktail bar.

"The garden level below the traffic and city noise is a perfect sanctuary for the senses," says community developer and Sfumato's new landlord, Mark R. Beard. "Sfumato fills that void better than anyone else in Detroit."

The Sfumato line features only natural ingredients extracted from plants, and supplies lists of all ingredients used. For example, Epiphany features Chamomile, Cypress, Frankincense, Galbanum, Grapefruit, Katrafay, Lavender, Petitgrain, Rosemary, Sweet Orange, Vetiver, and Ylang Ylang.

In addition to their signature line of fragrances, Sfumato creates custom fragrances for order, be it for people, businesses, or weddings and other events.

"Not to knock the DDSs in my family, but Sfumato is way less scary than the dental office that was in the same space a century ago," says Beard.

Castalia, the craft cocktail bar, won't operate regular bar hours, but rather ticketed events that pair fragrances with signature cocktails. Such sensory experiences have been a big part of Sfumato since its founding by Kevin Peterson and Jane Larson in 2013, including custom events at a number of bars, restaurants, and other businesses throughout the region.

Sfumato Fragrances is open from noon to 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Expanded hours will occur as the new year begins.

Sfumato Fragrances is located at 3980 Second Ave. in Detroit.

Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith.

Just weeks removed from having recently celebrated their grand opening in Ferndale, culinary outfitter Provisions is already planning a second location in Detroit. The specialty cheese, chocolate, and charcuterie shop is just one of five businesses that are closer to opening their own brick-and-mortar locations in the city after being named winners of TechTown Detroit's Kickstart Awards.

All graduates of TechTown's 2017 Retail Boot Camp, the five businesses have each been awarded up to $5,000 to be used toward their permanent or pop-up spaces, and inventory and point-of-sale systems. Each should open within the next six to 12 months.

In addition to Provisions, the winners include Voluptuous Bien' Aime Boutique, a women's clothing and accessories boutique; Mature, a men's contemporary casual clothing and modern dress wear store; Chanel's Bling, which offers customized bling designs for shoes, apparel, and accessories; and Urbanum, curators of various provisions and designs for city living.

"It was a really great program and I was proud of earning the award," says Provisions co-owner and cheesemonger Zach Berg. "I thought the program was a great way to take our business from pop-up to being a real establishment. It was also a great opportunity to meet other like-minded entrepreneurs who were dealing with similar challenges as my own."

TechTown's Retail Boot Camp is an eight-week program designed to prepare entrepreneurs in opening their own brick-and-mortar locations in Detroit. According to their website, Retail Boot Camp covers a wide range of topics, including identifying startup costs, understanding pricing and inventory, and how to manage daily cash flow. Eligibility requirements stipulate that applicants must locate their brick-and-mortar location, be it permanent or pop-up, in the city of Detroit.

Notable Retail Boot Camp graduates include Live Cycle Delight, Third Wave Music, and House of Pure Vin, among numerous others throughout the city.

Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith.

Unmistakable from both Grand River Avenue and I-96, the reflective exterior of Dabls MBAD African Bead Museum has been the catching eyes of passers-by and drawing in visitors since 1994. Home to the African Bead Gallery, N'kisi House, and African Language Wall, as well as 18 outdoor installations, the African Bead Museum stands to receive significant renovations, this thanks to the announcement of its inclusion in the state's placemaking initiative.

Facing a Dec. 31 deadline, the African Bead Museum must raise at least $50,000 via the Michigan-based crowdfunding platform Patronicity. If successful, the Michigan Economic Development Corportation will contribute a $50,000 matching grant to the project.

The matching grant is made possible by the state's placemaking initiative, Public Spaces Community Places. That program is a collaboration between MEDC, the Michigan Municipal League, and Patronicity.

"One way to do effective placemaking is to build on existing assets," says Dan Gilmartin, CEO and executive director of the Michigan Municipal League. "Dabls' MBAD African Bead Museum is certainly an amazing asset in Detroit. With the public's support, an expanded Dabls will allow it to continue to be a source of community pride for years to come."

The African Bead Museum receives 35,000 visitors each year.

With the money, African Bead Museum founder Olayami Dabls will renovate the buildings that make up the museum campus, which consist of nearly an entire block. A renovated rowhouse will feature free rotating exhibitions of African beads and artifacts, as well as a public gathering place and events space. In partnership with schools and museums, Dabls will also use the renovated space to grow African-based education programs.

Physical improvements will include repairing and refinishing interiors, building new gallery spaces, the installation of an ADA access ramp, and basement storage for his collection.

Laundromats, like libraries, are community hubs. It's no wonder, then, that the two go together so well.

That's what Libraries Without Borders has found both in Detroit and the Bronx, where the international non-profit has introduced their Wash & Learn program. The pilot program brings library amenities to the people, setting up pop-up libraries in laundromats.

Wash & Learn provides a Detroit librarian with books, laptops, Wi-Fi access, and more to each of the participating laundromats.

For John Carr, program officer at Libraries Without Borders, the marriage between library and laundromat has been a perfect fit.

"It takes an average of one and a half to two hours to do a load of laundry. So you have a captive audience," says Carr. "It's a real opportunity for community enrichment."

The program started in summer 2017 at three laundromats across the city of Detroit. Carr says that the goal is to have a library at every laundromat in the city.

Libraries Without Borders has partnered with a number of organizations to make Wash & Learn possible, including the Knight foundation, United Way of South East Michigan, Laundry Cares Foundation, the Detroit Public Library system, Southwest Solutions, the Detroit Mayor's Office, Coin Laundromat Association, Too Small to Fail, and Brilliant Detroit.

Celebrating their program's success, Libraries Without Borders and their partners are throwing a Free Laundry Day event at Coinless Laundromat on the city's west side on Wednesday, Nov. 1, from 3 to 7 p.m.

The festivities will include access to free laundry and refreshments, as well as arts and crafts and face painting for children.

"We hope that these pop-up libraries become integral parts of Detroit neighborhoods," says Carr. "We're inviting the community to come out and see."

Coinless Laundromat is located at 1281 Oakman Blvd. For more information on Wednesday's free event, click here.

Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith.

Though they've been friends for years and share the same profession, Josh Barg and Joe Destefano have never really worked together. That is, until now.

Barg and Destefano have opened their own tattoo shop in Eastern Market. It's been operating under a soft opening for the past couple of weeks and now, this Saturday, Oct. 28, Electric Park Tattoo will celebrate its official grand opening with an open house, $60 flash tattoos, and a $200 gift certificate giveaway.

Both Barg and Destafano have each worked at various area tattoo shops for the past eight years. Electric Park is an opportunity to do things their own way. They call it a street shop, one where you can walk right up and get a tattoo the same day.

The artists specialize in the American Traditional style, though they say they're capable of most others.

"We didn't really feel like there was a shop that we aspired to work at. We didn't want to settle for what was available," says Destefano. "We wanted to create something that we could actually be stoked about."

In opening their dream shop, the duo first looked at locations in Corktown and Midtown, but city ordinances and a lack of vacancies stymied those hopes. So Barg and Destafano took to the streets of Eastern Market, knocking on doors and introducing themselves to local business owners, asking if any spaces were available nearby.

They found the old Palazzolo and Sons produce warehouse and renovated the space, installing framing, drywall, electricity, and plumbing as they built the future home of Electric Park.

"It's cool because the neighborhood is so tight-knit. Everybody knows everybody," says Barg. "We found the place by word of mouth."

"It's an area that's for everybody: City, 'burbs, whatever," says Destefano. "No matter how good or bad the times, people will always come to Eastern Market."

The Electric Park Tattoo grand opening celebration is Saturday, Oct. 28, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

Standard hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

There's an odd-shaped 4.3 acre patch of land that greets those traveling southwest down Gratiot Avenue, toward downtown Detroit. This, the former location of the original Joe Muer seafood restaurant, has been announced as the future site of a new mixed-use development that features retail, commercial, and residential units.

Real-estate firm The Platform is pitching the development as the Gratiot corridor's gateway to downtown Detroit, and they say that they're approaching the project with the sort of reverence that befits a downtown landmark. The site is bounded by the Dequindre Cut, E. Vernor Highway, and Gratiot and St. Aubin avenues.

"We look at the site as one of the most prominent gateways to downtown that remain available," says Dietrich Knoer, co-founder, president, and CEO of The Platform. "We're excited to have it."

Not only is the site located just outside of downtown, but the future development counts both the Dequindre Cut and Eastern Market as its neighbors—two of Detroit's most democratic spaces, says Knoer. The Platform asserts that their development will adhere to the principles of inclusion and equitable development to create a community that serves and welcomes all.

While too far away for specifics, Knoer says that a mix of both bigger and hyper-local commercial and retail tenants could anchor the site. The residential unit count is still a way's away, too, but The Platform knows in which direction they're headed.

"It's hard to put a number [on the amount of units]," says Knoer. "But because of the size of the site and the nature of the site, it's going to require a high-density development to make it worthy of the site and to make the neighborhood proud and excited about it."

Construction could start as soon as October 2018.

Knoer says that The Platform has teamed with a number of firms to ensure that the new development best serves its prominent location and neighboring communities. Gensler Detroit has been tapped as the lead architectural firm, and they've assembled a team of partners that includes LAAVU, Hood Design Studio, Mass Economics, and Sam Schwartz Transportation Consultants.

DVP LLC, the most recent owner of the site, will now co-own the site with The Platform, which is serving as the developer of the project. DVP itself is owned by Charlie Edwards, who is developing the velodrome project at Tolan Playfield.

Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith.

A Detroit-based company has developed a smart phone app that serves as an online marketplace for on demand respite care.

It's the direction health care is heading, says CarePRN CEO Jason Wolfe, who's also a registered nurse. More and more patients are opting for in-home care, and something like CarePRN helps facilitate that.

While its patients' families that often carry much of the workload during cases of in-home care, CarePRN is designed so customers can dial up a licensed nurse to come over for an hour or two so they can take a well-deserved break from the stress of home health care.

The app also benefits those providing the in-home health care. Nurses choose their own rates, hours, and services provided. They then give 30 percent of their hourly earnings to CarePRN.

The company got its start two years ago, when Wolfe won an award at a Hacking Health competition at TechTown Detroit. He would go on to enter in TechTown's Business Incubation Center, where he learned the finer points of business.

"I didn't come in as a business man. I'm a nurse," says Wolfe. "But TechTown taught me the business acumen that I need to succeed as an entrepreneur."

Wolfe and his team rolled out CarePRN three months ago. They're taking a slow and methodical approach in getting this thing off the ground. Service is currently limited to Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties. As they grow their base, Wolfe will take feedback from CarePRN users and improve the app, before eventually expanding service to the state and then the nation as a whole.

Currently, CarePRN has nearly 50 active home care providers in its system. The company wants another 100 more. All providers must pass a background check, and be licensed.

Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith.

Wayne County has scored its first PACE project and it's a notable one: The landmark Whitney mansion and restaurant on Woodward Avenue. The 123 year old building is set to receive $863,130 worth of energy efficiency upgrades thanks to financing from Petros PACE Finance of Austin, Texas.

PACE, or Property Assessed Clean Energy, is a national program that helps businesses finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects that save money in the long run but require expensive investment up front.

It allows property owners this ability through a special property tax assessment with local governments. The tax assessment then frees up lenders' ability to provide up to 20-year, low rate, fixed-interest loans.

"It's a great story to have a building with such an incredibly rich history in the PACE program," says Andy Levin, president of Lean & Green Michigan and managing partner of Levin Energy Partners.

"The fixtures in the Whitney mansion were literally installed by Thomas Edison and now, at 123 years old, it's going to become a model building of our low-carbon future."

Of the improvements planned are storm windows designed for each of the building's 200-plus windows, LED lighting throughout the building, including the chandeliers, energy efficient HVAC equipment, energy efficient kitchen equipment, and a building controls system that is operated via smartphone—virtually from anywhere in the world.

Prominent Detroit artists, neighborhood schoolchildren, and community boosters have teamed together to bring two pieces of public art to the North Rosedale Park neighborhood in northwest Detroit.

Having already won a $76,000 grant from the Knight Foundation, the Legacy Project is nearing its goal in improving public spaces through art. There is a catch to the Knight grant, however, and for the Legacy Project to receive the money, they must first raise a matching $76,000 of their own, which would bring the grand total to $152,000 to go toward the project.

Marsha Bruhn is chair of the Legacy Project, a group started to improve the North Rosedale Park Community House and its surrounding park. Bruhn says that they have entered the final leg of fundraising for the project, and need to raise just $20,000 to receive their $76,000 Knight grant.

The group has turned to Michigan-based crowdfunding platform Patronicity to do just that. The project, titled Great Art! Great Park!, has until 10:30 a.m. on Sep. 30 to raise the $20,000.

"Public art signals to the community that art is important, that the creative process is important. Creativity stimulates thinking," says Bruhn. "And it's another reason for people to come to the neighborhood. This will be the quality of art that is found in museums and galleries."

Two pieces of art are planned for North Rosedale Park. The first is a 25-foot metal sculpture designed by Detroit's Charles McGee, a well-renowned artist and decades-long resident of the neighborhood.

The second is a mosaic from Kresge Fine Arts Fellow Hubert Massey. In addition to his own mosaic, the artist is working with third and fifth-graders at the neighborhood's Cooke STEM Academy to help them design and construct their own mosaics, which will also be completed and installed.

Taylor Renee Aldridge and Jessica Lynne, of Detroit and New York City, respectively, are bringing their internationally renowned arts criticism journal ARTS.BLACK to life in Detroit this August.

Recipients of the 2016 the John S. and James L. Knight Arts Challenge award, the co-founders of ARTS.BLACK are holding a Book Fair and "Friendrasier" at Good Lab in Detroit's Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood. The event takes place Saturday, Aug. 26, from 1 to 5 p.m.

The Knight Arts Challenge award is contingent on the recipients raising matching funds and the book fair is an opportunity for Aldridge and Lynne to do just that. Funds raised from the award and book fair will cover publication costs, payments for writers, and continued operations for the journal, which provides art criticism from a Black perspective.

"We operate online and we're constantly interacting with the different communities there. The book fair is an opportunity to take a step back and interface more intimately with each other," says Aldridge. "It's an opportunity to talk about critical literature that isn't off-putting or intimidating. It'll open it up to people."

The ARTS.BLACK Book Fair and Friendraiser features books that focus on issues of art, labor, or both. New and used catalogs, zines, history books, and more will be on hand. Many of the books have been donated by Detroiters like Janet Webster Jones, owner of Source Booksellers.

ARTS.BLACK t-shirts and totes will also be for sale at the event. Music, refreshments, and snacks may also be part of the day's festivities.

"In our research, we've found that labor is an essential theme of an artist's practice in Detroit," says Aldridge.

"We really want to examine that and explore those themes."

Good Lab is located at 14720 E. Jefferson Ave. in Detroit. Click here for more information on the ARTS.BLACK Book Fair and Friendraiser.

Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith.